Somewhere I can talk about my favourite subjects: old British comics, story papers and paperbacks.
The Moment of EclipseI've had a week split between distractions and taking it easy. The work I'm supposed to be doing has crawled along at a snail's pace, but I'm over the half-way mark with my second pass on the artwork for our next planned pair of books. I would have had it finished but decided I needed to celebrate in some small way the publication of THE SHINKER. Apart from posting
This week's Commando set features a high-stakes adventure in the skies above Leningrad, when the scheming SS attempt to double-cross Leutnant Kurt Stahlmann and his trusty Junkers Ju 52, Iron Annie. And over in Burma, Private Henry Lovelock must dig deep to find the courage to save his friend. Issues 5983-5986 are on sale today, Thursday 13th August. 5983: Iron AnnieAfter Leutnant
No crime is too small, no punishment too big — as the classic cases of Judge Dredd come in a brand new series with a brand new format! Judge Dredd: Compact Crimes collects the bestselling adventures of the ultimate lawman of the future in the popular compact format, bringing the best of British comics to a whole new audience. Launching on 26 January 2027, this is the ideal place to
Exciting news, readers! My copies of THE SHRINKER are on their way and should arrive tomorrow. I'll put the book up on my Ebay shop as soon as I can. It does mean the early bird discount will be coming to an end, so if you want to benefit from a bit of money off, order your copy now. You have until the weekend.I'm keeping busy with the next couple of books, the first of which will
Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026, Football Picture Story Monthly is back with two incredible graphic novel volumes out now! Volume One: The Best of Stark and Volume Two: The Best of We Are United!First published in 1986, Football Picture Story Monthly was an instant success for British publishing giant DC Thomson. Running for 17 years and releasing a staggering 418 issues, this celebrated
Garth Ennis and Colin Wilson’s acclaimed DC/Wildstorm miniseries returns to print in a lush new collection from The Treasury of British Comics!One of the most fondly remembered characters from the Treasury of British Comics returns in a tensely told and lushly rendered tale of honour, duty, loyalty and sacrifice.Originally published by Amalgamated Press and Fleetway in the 1950s, Wing Commander
I started taking orders for THE SHRINKER on Friday, but that meant posting the page on the Bear Alley Books blog last thing on Thursday night and the first order came in at 1:13 in the morning. That's quick off the blocks for any of my books!That said, sales have been a bit slow, which I kind of expected — the people who aren't booking their holidays are on their holidays and in August
This week's Commando set brings you all-new Cadman and a dramatic story from the helicopter-filled skies of the Vietnam War. Issues 5979-5982 are on sale today, Thursday 30th July.5979: Cadman: QuartermasterThe Western Front, May 1916. Prince Rupert’s Horse Regiment find themselves short of food and, crucially, the private food supplies of Lieutenant Cadman — the fighting coward — have run
This Summer, kick off your shoes, put on your shades, kick back and relax by the pool… the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2026 is here to fill your holidays with dread and fear!Featuring a cover from 2000 AD legend Liam Sharp, inside you’ll find plenty to keep you busy this Summer Season, as we present all-new stories for Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, and Judge Death – alongside a surprise new Thriller
30 Jul. Interview: Garth Ennis. "Comic book legend Garth Ennis joins Collectors Confessions to discuss his newest AHOY Comics series, BABS: The Black Road South! We dive into creating Babs, balancing fantasy and satire, working with artist Jacen Burrows, and why this world was worth revisiting. We also explore Garth's incredible career, including Preacher, The Boys, Punisher, Hitman,
OK, folks. Fire up your Paypal accounts, clutch your credit cards and get ready for THE SHRINKER!!!The second proof arrived during the week and it looks great. A couple of tweaks I made after seeing the first proof have printed correctly and I've had to make one correction to the second proof. But that means I'm going to start taking orders... and that means the early bird discount for
First published as part of Lion comic in 1966, Trelawny of the Guards was one of the very first British War Comics with a focus on depicting a realistic and accurate perspective on life at war. Sixty years on, The Treasury of British Comics are proud to release a new collection of the entire 1966 run of the series, which features amazing black and white artwork from legendary Spanish artist
When volume two of this series of books detailing the works of Reginald Heade arrived in 2020, it was widely thought to be the final word on Heade and his career as one of Britain's premier cover and dust jacket artists. Six years later, we have an update that not only offers further insight into his life, his family and the agents and publishers he worked for, but an astonishing collection of
I'm still waiting on the delivery of my second proof for THE SHRINKER, but I know it's on its way and hopefully will be here on Monday, which means that, if it's OK, I'll launch the pre-orders next week. Fingers crossed.In the meantime, I'm deep into the next pair of books that Bear Alley will be publishing in the next couple of months. I'm thinking it might be best to have a little gap
This week's Commando set includes a brand-new Harrier Squadron story and a wartime mystery in the Black Forest. Issues 5975-5978 are on sale today. Thursday 16th July.5975: Harrier Squadron: Ghost FlightIt is the mid-1990s and across a battle-scarred Europe, the forces of WESFED (Western Federation) and the Eastern armies of the ASBLOC (Asian Bloc) are in a delicate state of truce. But the
Cyd Finlea is a photo journalist who works for Global Neographic, who have assigned her a universal beat! Leaving Earth, she heads out into the furthest edges of the universe, cataloguing alien societies and photographing the strange new worlds that she finds. As she heads ever-further into the endless adventure of the universe, she encounters all kinds of new creatures, cultures, and dangers.
That there are still discoveries to be made, even as we enter the summer of the 39th year of Eagle Times is proven by Jeremy Briggs' opening feature that offers a unique insight into two previously unknown Dan Dare stories, written in synopsis by "Leslie Brent". If you've never heard of Brent, don't worry—nobody has. The author was actually Peggy Cornwell, wife of artist
I'm in that hinterland between working on a book and waiting for the final jigsaw piece to arrive, namely the second proof that tells me everything is OK and I can order a full print-run. The temptation is to do nothing, especially in this heat. We're still getting into the low thirties which is enough to melt your enthusiasm for work. As Mel was home on Sunday we actually took the
The Nacelle Company, Oni Press, and Rebellion are proud to announce a historic partnership, which officially begins with the announcement of JUDGE DREDD /BIKER MICE FROM MARS #1 – launching the wreckage-strewn collision of the 22nd Century’s most feared lawman against its hardest-charging mutant outlaws in a no-holds-barred showdown for supremacy! JUDGE DREDD /| BIKER MICE FROM
After last week's announcement that the next book from Bear Alley will be THE SHRINKER I have very little news. The proof arrived, looked good, I made a couple of minor changes and I'll be ordering a second proof. After that I'll be taking the usual "early bird" orders ahead of official publication with a bit of a discount, and then we'll have the book on sale as usual.For your
This week's Commando set includes a fun and fantastical Commando story set in the Norwegian mountains, and a mystery for former detective Rick Brennan in the foggy Ardennes in 1944. Issues 5971-5974 are on sale today, Thursday 2nd July.5971: Commandos Vs DragonsSergeant Terry Banks and his colourful team of Commandos were known for getting the job done. But the Commandos might have bitten off
The latest in Rebellion’s Apex Edition oversized hardcover art books series will feature early work from one of Britain’s most distinctive comic artists, known the world over thanks to his partnership with Alan Moore on the groundbreaking superhero series Watchmen.With his work appearing from the very first issue of 2000 AD, Gibbons quickly established himself as a pre-eminent talent — his clean
After the excitement and socializing of last week, it has been a very quiet week. I promised myself that I'd take a couple of days off after such a hectic weekend at the Comic Swap Meet (scroll down for a report on that). I sold some books, so the first job was to do a stock take and order up some books. What I actually did was turn on the scanner and scan the covers of all the books I'd
Inside the latest 2000 AD, Prog 2487, the second Bumper Prog of the year, you can see Warwick Fraser-Coombe’s latest multimedia exploration of the iconic characters from the history of the Galaxy’s Greatest. It’s a rather stunning rendering of everyone’s favourite Celtic barbarian, Sláine mac Roth…This piece is merely the latest of a series of iconic pieces that have been cropping up over the
The latest Commando and British Weekly Comic Swap Meet took place on Saturday. June 20, at Wolstanton Methodist Church in (the clue's in the name) Wolstanton, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, although it is known amongst the organisers as the Stoke swapmeet, as Stoke-on-Trent is nearby.Last year, we took a trip into Hanley and it was a disappointment; this year we (please welcome to the stage Mr. Karl